Themed collection Exploring polymer networks: properties, applications, and sustainable solutions

This review explores network designs that address the trade-off between toughness and elasticity, offering strategies to develop materials with both high fracture resistance and low hysteresis for advanced applications.

Inspired by the multiple supramolecular interactions in adhesive proteins or nucleic acids, novel supramolecular adhesives have been developed.

In this study, we systematically controlled the swelling behavior of the gel without affecting the bulk elastic modulus by grafting polymers into the surface region of the gel only while systematically varying the density.

A facile preparation method of an ion gel that exhibits high strength and repeated stretchability is realized. A number of polymer chain entanglements in addition to a small number of chemical cross-links support mechanical properties of gel.

A polymer glass resists fatigue crack growth by deconcentrating stress. The fatigue threshold increases as the yield strength decreases.

By combining dynamic techniques, the semiflexible network structure of wormlike micelles was revealed across various time and length scales.

Ionically-functionalized block polymer-based thermoplastic elastomers with shorter alkyl chains formed larger microscopic ionic aggregates due to reduced steric hindrance, enhancing tensile strength and toughness compared to those with longer ones.

Epoxidized castor oil in polyurethanes preparation opens for a new class of “green” and sustainable poly(urethanes-co-oxazolidiones) organogels with enhanced mechanical and thermal properties.

A multiarm star polymer can be a useful crosslinker to achieve good mechanical properties of a polymer hydrogel.

A mechanical model that explains the softness and extensibility of slide-ring (SR) gels based on the sliding extent of the cross-linking point is constructed using coarse-grained molecular dynamics (CGMD) simulations.

Functionalization of bio-based polycarbonates by post-polymerization modification with boronic acids was demonstrated for tuning the thermal and physical properties of original polymers without losing the degradability by ammonolysis.

Physical gels composed solely of chain entanglements of ultrahigh molecular weight polymers in highly concentrated lithium salt electrolytes were developed through a facile one-pot process, exhibiting notable viscoelastic and mechanical properties.

Displacement distributions of colloids dispersed in agarose gels below 1 μm, combined with diffusion coefficient mappings at larger scales, reveal the heterogeneous structure of agarose gels accompanied by phase separation.

We investigate the interfacial morphology of colloidal nanogels with increasing hydrophobicity. The transition from deformable to solid-like characteristics occurs suddenly above a threshold in hydrophobicity.

Stress visualization around cracks in NC gels was performed using ultrasonic elastography. Temporal and spatial mapping are performed non-invasively. Over time, the stress gradient is erased by large-scale reorganization of the polymer network.

Phenylboronic acid (PBA) is a widely exploited glucose-sensitive element for constructing glucose-responsive hydrogels to enable smart insulin delivery.

Tough supramolecular hydrogels with high stability over a wide pH range are prepared by constructing cooperative hydrogen bonds between the grafted chain of PDMAA and main chain of PMAAc, and exhibit shape memory ability and recyclability.

Fracture characteristics of phantom chain networks made from star prepolymers lie on density-dependent master curves if they are plotted against cycle rank. The density dependence cannot be explained by the modulus.

The structures of single microgels and microgel arrays at the air/water interface were directly visualized and correlated with π–A isotherms to understand the compression behavior of soft and deformable microgels at the interface.

3D printable hydrogels with thermal stiffening properties are achieved by combining hydrophobic interactions that enhance ionic bonds.